Qatar says Hamas ‘generally positive’ about proposals, while pressure grows on Netanyahu government over handling of crisis

Israel has said it has informed the families of 31 people held in the territory since 7 October that their relatives are dead. The news came as the Qatari prime minister said Hamas had given a “generally positive” response to proposals for a deal trading a break in the fighting and release of Palestinian prisoners for the return of more hostages.

The number of the dead equates to more than a fifth of the remaining 136 hostages being held by in Gaza, according to available intelligence collated by the Israeli military, and comes amid pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its handling of the hostage crisis.

The news that 31 hostages have died first emerged from a confidential internal Israeli review leaked to the New York Times. The fate of a further 20 people is also in question amid unconfirmed intelligence that they may also have died during their captivity, the report said.

The figure of 31 was later confirmed by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of the captives. “According to the official data we have, there are 31 victims,” it said in a statement.

The disclosure that so many of the remaining hostages are dead – a higher number than previously disclosed – seems certain to intensify scrutiny of the Netanyahu government’s handling of the crisis, which has provoked fury among many hostage families.

  • Zaktor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    453·
    8 months ago

    What a sentence summarizing the war:

    During the course of a conflict that has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the IDF has so far rescued one hostage, while three others – men who had escaped their captors in northern Gaza – were killed by Israeli soldiers as they approached an Israeli position.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
      152·
      8 months ago

      I assume those 31 were also killed by the IDF, either directly or indirectly. You can’t just start bombing randomly without bombing buildings those hostages are in.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    52·
    8 months ago

    First, I keep being surprised by how leaky the militaries of various nations are. Russians post cell-phone pictures of burning equipment for the benefit of Ukrainian rocket artillerists, Americans reveal classified information in order to impress kids on the internet, and now Israelis apparently BCC the New York Times…

    Second, it appears that some significant fraction of the hostages revealed to be dead were actually never captured alive. They were killed during the initial attack and then their bodies were taken. It seems like these victims should not count against Netanyahu’s post-October 7 strategy.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
      93·
      8 months ago

      They were killed during the initial attack and then their bodies were taken. It seems like these victims should not count against Netanyahu’s post-October 7 strategy.

      I haven’t heard about Hamas kidnapping dead bodies, is there a source for that?

      It seems rather plausible that the IDF’s bombing campaign could have killed some hostages.

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        17·
        8 months ago

        I’m sorry but I’m not in the right state of mind right now to look up the details of the October 7th attack. With that said, there’s a history of Israel trading large numbers of prisoners for the dead body of even one Israeli.